Boris Spassky, the Soviet chess grandmaster best known for his historic defeat in the "Match of the Century" at the height of the Cold War, has died at 88, the Chess Federation of Russia announced Thursday.
The federation called his passing a "great loss to the country," noting that generations of chess players had studied his games.
Among the first to pay tribute was fellow Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, who told the state-run TASS news agency: "He was always one of my main idols."
Spassky is most remembered for his iconic 1972 showdown against American Bobby Fischer, a match that symbolized the East-West rivalry of the era.
The Soviet chess titan led a checkered life, alternating between high-stakes battles against the world’s best and periods of near obscurity.
Born in 1937 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Spassky showed prodigious talent early, becoming the world junior champion and, at 18, the youngest grandmaster in history at the time.
He said he learned to play chess at age 5 in an orphanage, having managed to flee Leningrad with his family when it was besieged by the Nazis during World War II.
After the war, his aggressive style of play – unafraid of sacrifices – was noticed by his peers and encouraged by the state, which provided him with a scholarship and a coach.
Despite his promise, Spassky found himself overshadowed by another rising Soviet chess star, Mikhail Tal, the so-called "Magician of Riga."
It was not until 1961 that Spassky staged a remarkable comeback by winning the USSR Championship.
Eight years later, he defeated compatriot Tigran Petrosian to claim the world title.
"I never set myself the goal of becoming world champion. Everything worked out by itself. I was progressing in leaps and bounds," Spassky said in 2016.
Spassky would hold his title for just three years.
In 1972 in Iceland, he played the match that would define his career against the American prodigy Fischer.
With the Cold War at its height and the Soviet Union having dominated chess for decades, Spassky faced immense pressure to defend the title against the eccentric 29-year-old Fischer, who openly criticized Soviet players.
Despite a strong start for Spassky, Fischer roared back to win, ending the Soviet Union’s unbroken streak of world champions since 1948.
Although the loss was a blow to Moscow, for Spassky, it was a relief to be rid of a "colossal responsibility."
"You can't imagine how relieved I was when Fischer took the title away from me. I freed myself from a very heavy burden and breathed freely," he said nearly four decades later.
The iconic Cold War duel has been the subject of numerous books, documentaries and films. Most notably, it inspired Walter Tevis' novel "The Queen's Gambit," which was adapted into the acclaimed Netflix series in 2020.
At the time, however, Spassky fell out of favor.
In 1976, he moved to France after marrying a Frenchwoman of Russian origin. He obtained French citizenship in 1978.
Spassky largely withdrew from public life until 1992, when he played an unofficial rematch against Fischer in Yugoslavia.
The last years of his life were marked by ill health and a mysterious family conflict.
After suffering two strokes, he returned to Russia in 2012 with the help of a sponsor and against the advice of his wife and sister.
"I have to start over from scratch, but I'm not afraid," Spassky said on Russian television after his return.
A few years earlier, in 2008, he had visited the grave of his former rival Fischer, who had died that year and was buried in a small cemetery in Iceland.
"Do you think the neighboring spot is available?" Spassky asked journalists accompanying him.
Spassky lived in Moscow, and his relatives informed the chess federation of his death, its executive director, Alexander Tkachev, told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
